Sunday, January 16, 2011

Kiss My Apple

I have wasted hours of my life that I will never get back trying to accomplish a seemingly simple task: sync my wife's iPod iTouch to her new PC.

Perhaps my expectations are unrealistic.  I admit, I am a dreamer.  My dream (in this isolated case) would be to connect the iPod to the new PC, authorize the new PC to the iTunes account, and then have them sync up so I could use the new PC in the same fashion as the old PC.

Apple has other ideas about this, though, and has turned my dream into a nightmare.

Apple will allow transfers from the iPod, but only items purchased form the iTunes store.  The many gigabytes of music from CD's I bought won't transfer, because Apple doesn't like them.  Apple also has a vendetta against the playlists, and refuses to sync them, too.


I checked online and found an incredibly useless article that detailed how to use the iPod to transfer all your music from one computer to another, boldly proclaiming the wonders of the iPod as a high-capacity storage device.  The article was good for all iPods...except the iTouch.  This inspired me to make up several creative new bad words.


I called support and told the automated system my name, but the robotic voice and I had difficulty talking about the device serial number, so I was transferred to a representative, who asked me my name again because the robotic voice refuses to sync its info with the representative, just like the iPod refuses to sync information with a new PC.  At least Apple is consistent in this approach.

I calmly and politely described my issue, and was immediately put on hold because the representative was totally clueless and had to "do research".  She came back about 5 minutes later and asked a few questions, the answers to which were all given in my initial description of the problem.  She put me on hold again, and my call was dropped.

She must have been using an iPhone.

#  

9 comments:

Laurel said...

That is my one and only major complaint about Mac products. They are brutally protective of artistic rights and as a result they make it hard for you to transfer music you OWN from a computer you OWN to another computer you OWN.

Even Mac to Mac you lose stuff, like playlists. Not cool.

Anita said...

Bummer. Will share with Husband, who is thinking of getting me an iPhone.

Rick Daley said...

I find it iNconvenient and iNfuritating. It makes me wonder why so many people iNvest in their products.

I'm all for copyright protection, but something like syncing a playlist should be common sense.

I'm glad to hear that this doens't work Mac to Mac, I thought it was Apple's way of saying, "Oh, you use a PC? ^&*% you."

I'm finding ways to work around it, and the most useful information comes from the web, not from Apple's support team.

This bite of Apple has left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Eric said...

Heh heh, and people wonder why I have nothing to do with the rotten fruit. Sorry for your troubles though, dude!

Rick Daley said...

Eric- I am in the market for a new laptop and was considering a Macbook, but that's off the plate now.

And for the record, I am not responsible for Steve Jobs' current condition, and even though I am iNfuriated with his iNventions, I wish him a speedy recovery.

Rich said...

Rick, I have had a vertical learning curve with iPad. My mood has been in a poor zone to say the least. Apple is the worst. But...if you can find help it does get better. They count on you to enter questions on the internet and get answers that way. I spent 30 minutes with a chap at Best Buy and he helped level the learning curve a great deal today. I am not ready to yell uncle but assure you a visit with someone that speaks their touchy - feely systems,you will survive the road blocks. I am of the opinion that Apple is for those that like EASY and not Deepth of programs. I should have waited for someone to develop a Windows competing product. I have a Blackberry phone and will avoid the problems of needing/buying apps. It works seamlessly with Outlook. Don't drink red wine when you are trying to figure stuff out. The bottle is to much of a temptation to throw at the monitor!

Rick Daley said...

Dad- In any regard, at least I have the sense to wait until the bottle is empty to throw it ;-)

I just can't wrap my head around any reason why they would not sync up the playlists. I can (sort of) understand copyright implications of moving the actual audio files.

They should put a big warning on the package for the iTouch telling you that if you ever want to use the product with a new computer (PC or Mac) you're f*&^ed.

Sattakingin said...

Right Steps play bazaar websites new creating ideas satta king going to your way.

Longmont Drapery said...

Nice blogg post